Childhood Obesity Task Force Unveils 70-Point Plan

Childhood obesity was the focus of a 70-point plan unveiled Tuesday by Michelle Obama on behalf of a special White House Task Force. The group hopes to reduce the obesity epidemic among kids within a generation.

First lady Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity a primary focus of her role in Washington. On Tuesday she revealed the results of a White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity Report, which offered a 70-point plan to curb the obesity epidemic among our nation’s kids within a generation.

One in three American children are overweight or obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the rate of childhood obesity is higher in parts of the Midwest and Deep South. The report calls for help from schools, state and local governments, businesses and families to reverse the obesity trend among children.

“We’re setting really clear goals and benchmarks and measurable outcomes that will help tackle this challenge one step, one family and one child at a time,” the first lady said during a White House ceremony. “If we meet the goals we set, we will reverse a 30 year trend.”

The report, which comes after the first lady launched her nationwide “Let’s Move” campaign, includes 70 recommendations to help children maintain a normal weight, including addressing prenatal care for pregnant mothers, providing healthier food in school cafeterias, and increasing physical activity among children through in school and after school physical education programs.

The White House Task Force also encourages the food and beverage industry to market healthier, more nutritious food to children, and avoid marketing in stores that promote unhealthy food. Although the agencies that make up the task force reserve the right to enact future regulations, for now there will be no regulatory action or federal taxes on sugary drinks and junk food.

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2 Responses

This will go the way of the highly touted, but ill-conceived, polyanna Give / Serve America Act. You don’t see people lining up at every local non-profit office to volunteer, and you won’t see McDonalds drive-thru lines sitting empty either. This is just another piece of feel-good policy making from our fantasy world Pretender-in-Chief. What a waste.

It’s not as cut-and-dry as too much junk food and not enough play. Sure, that’s the situation, but it’s just a symptom of the larger social disease: lack of parenting, lack of social drive, and single parents who satiate their guilt by indulging their kids, etc.